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SGK reversing decision and will still fund PP
They just released a statement on their website. And of course the server is too busy.
ETA: Hm, maybe not per the bolded? Dammit, someone post a real story!
ETA2: To make the title less juvenile. lol
The Susan G. Komen Foundation has just released a new statement from CEO Nancy Brinker. The first line is a mea culpa: ?We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women?s lives.?
But what does this mea culpa mean? Brinker goes on to make clear that they will amend their guidelines so only ?criminal and conclusive? investigations affect their funding decisions. They will ensure that ?politics has no place in our grant process,? and they will ?continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.?
So they are, perhaps, backing down. Or perhaps not. Yesterday, the Komen Foundation said the investigation was not the cause of their reduced support for Planned Parenthood, and that the real issue was that Planned Parenthood did not directly provide mammograms. This statement doesn?t address that concern at all. So it would appear to leave open the possibility that the foundation intends to reject Planned Parenthood?s future grant applications ? albeit on less overtly political grounds.
I posed these questions to Leslie Aun, vice president for communications at the Komen Foundation. ?I think our statement speaks for itself,? she replied. You can be the judge of that. The statement follows in full:
Statement from Susan G. Komen Board of Directors and Founder and CEO Nancy G. Brinker
We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women?s lives.
The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.
Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.
Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.
It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women. We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics ? anyone?s politics.
Starting this afternoon, we will have calls with our network and key supporters to refocus our attention on our mission and get back to doing our work. We ask for the public?s understanding and patience as we gather our Komen affiliates from around the country to determine how to move forward in the best interests of the women and people we serve.
We extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support we have received from so many in the past few days and we sincerely hope that these changes will be welcomed by those who have expressed their concern.
Re: SGK reversing decision and will still fund PP
Awesome. While I understand the concern with the other reasoning (impact versus an investigation being the cause), I think if they rejected funding in the future they would have to show a very good reason or the backlash will just happen again. I think PP's funding is probably safe for a while.
On a personal note though, I will never donate to Susan G. Komen again. I'm sure they do wonderful things beyond their grants to PP but this has brought to light some shady stuff that makes me uncomfortable giving them my money. I will continue however to donate to other groups that support cancer research (of all types), screening, and women's health.
ETA: Oh, and the damage is clearly already done. The backlash from those that supported them pulling the PP funding is now going to be just as bad. This is a total clusterfuucck.
Yep.
Well good. I still feel like the whole statement was a little shady though.
Unfortunately, they have cast doubt, and there's no way to un-do that. Reading that statement was like walking on eggshells. They can claim "it's not political" all they want but that whole statement was screaming "we're trying to be politically correct here." I don't think I'll be throwing any money at them either.
Life is a gift. Be Happy.
Word. They've pissed off both sides now and now no one will support them confidently. This is all just a mess for them. And I'm not so secretly glad.
Yeah, I'm glad that PP will get the funding since they have probably already scoped how it will be spent, but Komen's name is forever tarnished. That statement they released starts off with the right spirit -- we effed up. But it's way too hedged and deliberate. It seems like they are trying to make everyone happy like abbs said, and I get that they want fund raising dollars no matter where/who they come from.. but like I said on the other post, I really think they need to stand up and say "This is what we believe. This is what we support. If you don't support it, we hope you find another charity to help the fight against breast cancer."
For me, this means one fewer race that I feel occupationally obligated to do. haha